You might remember how the Amazon tax was quite the battle in Colorado[6], with state legislators trying to get the online retailer’s help in collecting sales taxes, a move that was right on principle but wrong on law.

Recently, Governing magazine published a story[7] about the status of efforts to get Amazon to collect sales taxes on behalf of states, and how the business “may be changing its game plan,” according to the story.

One of the answers the story suggests is the Main Street Fairness Act[8], federal legislation that would afford states that have signed onto a streamlined sales tax agreement the authority to mandate that online retailers collect sales taxes.

The trouble for Colorado is that the federal legislation, as written, does not help this state. In an editorial the Post published last August[9], we described how the state’s many home rule cities and counties would make it all but impossible to have all the taxing entities within Colorado agree to uniform tax rates, which are an integral part of the Main Street Fairness Act[8].

Because of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, there almost certainly would have to be successful local elections to modify rates so they were all the same. This is how we described the situation in the August editorial:

Even if the potential revenue were tempting enough to entice local governments to agree to uniform tax rates, there still is TABOR to grapple with. If any of the tax rates were to increase in any district, which is all but certain, voters would have to approve the changes. Getting affirmative votes on perhaps dozens of measures seems unlikely.

It’s a shame because online sales tax collection is a matter of fairness, and a potential source of much-needed government revenue. And in this era when many e-tailers already manage myriad local tax rates, it is not asking too much for others to do the same.

Not a minor point in this debate is that collecting sales taxes from online retail sales is a matter of fairness to businesses that have a bricks and mortar presence in the state and employ local people. They are at a competitive disadvantage when vying for sales against online retailers who don’t charge add sales taxes to customers’ bills.

So what can be done?

As we suggested in the editorial, Colorado and other states similarly situated would benefit only if the legislation didn’t require that states buy into the Streamlined Sales and Use Tax Agreement[10].

As Colorado’s leaders struggle to find a way to pay for services both demanded and required, it seems to me this avenue to collect sales taxes rightfully owed could be worth pursuing.

Yes, it would take a lot of heavy lifting from the state’s leaders, in particular its congressional delegation. But if an alliance could be forged among the states that are left out in the cold by this legislation then perhaps there could be some movement.

It wouldn’t be easy, but not much is these days where government finances are concerned.